Fortunately, Jiang Zhiyu was clear-headed and acknowledged that although she claimed to be a fan, she also said it was just a hobby. She could distinguish between reality and the online world. Qin Wei was now her teammate and they would continue to get along well.
At this time, Zhou Fang leaving first still made Qin Wei somewhat worried.
Indeed, things like being a fan or chasing stars were trivial. It would not be good to lose temper over this and cause some incident.
Besides, no matter how bad the relationship was, they were still teammates. She was just a 17 or 18-year-old child. Qin Wei could not resent her.
"Let's go. If we hurry we may still catch up to her."
Qin Wei stood up, shouldered her backpack, and started walking forward.
The four people still had nothing to say on the road. So Qin Wei asked Ye Jiahe:
"You also don't like Qiao Sixiao?"
"I don't really. I'm a mom fan, not a girlfriend fan or a wife fan. I don't care who you're with as long as you work hard earnestly. "
Ye Jiahe's reply left Qin Wei a little confused:
"I have girlfriend fans and wife fans too?"
Ye Jiahe nodded:
"Yeah, not as many as mom fans though."
As she spoke, she glanced at Han Zhou again and lowered her voice:
"She is a CP fan. I don't reject it, but I feel like they always force you to do fan service. I feel bad for you."
"I'm not really forced to do it..."
Qin Wei whispered.
"Who forced them? They really like each other!"
Han Zhou had obviously heard them. She didn't want to pay attention at first, but they had poked her sore spot now so she had to say something.
"But it's not real..."
Qin Wei felt like she was sweating...
"Shut up, did I ask you?"
Han Zhou got angry with her again.
Qin Wei: "?"
"Who do you think you are?"
Ye Jiahe flared up again.
Qin Wei walked over to stand between them and told them both to shut up:
"That's enough, don't talk. Good heavens, isn't this all just entertainment? How did it become your career?"
"Chasing stars should just be a recreational activity during breaks from work and meals. The most important thing for you right now is to strive to improve yourselves..."
"Qin Wei, shut up!"
Ye Jiahe and Han Zhou rarely agreed on something.
"....Okay."
...
After walking for half an hour, it was almost 5 o'clock and there was still no sign of Zhou Fang. She had left just a few minutes earlier than them. So the group of four quickened their pace, but they didn't see her all along the way.
When they turned left at the fork in the road, someone called out to them:
"Go this way, not that way."
Someone not far away flashed a flashlight at them.
But...
Jiang Zhiyu looked down at the sign at her feet. It clearly pointed in the direction they were walking.
The other party quickly understood what they meant:
"I just noticed too. The sign wasn't hung properly and blew off in the wind."
Indeed, there were no more signs ahead.
They backtracked to the fork and in the light of Jiang Zhiyu's flashlight, Qin Wei saw a metal tube reflecting light on the ground among some diagonal bushes.
She crouched down to pick it up. It was Zhou Fang's flashlight.
It was easy to recognize with the cartoon image of Qiao Sixiao drawn on it.
She pressed the switch but no light came on. The battery was dead.
The four girls looked at each other. Could Zhou Fang have taken the wrong path?
Just in case, Jiang Zhiyu stayed at the fork to wait while the other three girls decided to walk forward and take a look.
However, the road ahead was difficult to traverse, becoming increasingly rugged, and the surrounding trees grew thicker and thicker. It seemed to lead deep into the mountains.
Night roads were creepy enough already. From time to time, the shrill cry of a scops owl rang out overhead, making the three girls shrink their necks in fear. Just as they were about to give up, they saw a hair tie caught on the crooked branch of a bush.
It was purple dusk color.
"She really is a diehard fan of Qiao Sixiao..."
Qin Wei held the slender hair tie, recalling that she had said earlier this was the fan support color since Qiao Sixiao's debut...
It looked like Zhou Fang had taken the wrong path...
Looking at the steep slope ahead, it would be easy to miss a step if you didn't pay close attention. Qin Wei sucked in a breath of cold air. Although she didn't want to think further, it was possible that Zhou Fang had fallen down.
"You go find the instructor. I'll go down and take a look."
As Qin Wei spoke, she put down her backpack and took out a coil of emergency rappelling rope.
"It's too dangerous. I'll go," Ye Jiahe said.
Qin Wei smiled helplessly:
"Do you have the ability to climb back up?"
Ye Jiahe looked down into the darkness below and couldn't tell the depth. She really wasn't confident about it.
"Hurry up and go."
After Qin Wei finished speaking, she secured the rope to a relatively thick tree and had Han Zhou shine a light for her. Then she climbed down using the rope.
It wasn't deep, only about four or five meters. She easily touched bottom with the rope, and her arm strength was decent enough that it wasn't too difficult climbing down.
A figure had arrived before her, climbing down the steep slope to her side. Only after making sure Qin Wei could safely land did she let out a breath of relief. Then her expression turned cold again.
When Qin Wei saw her, she was startled for a moment. It had taken her nearly two minutes to struggle climbing down. When did she get here? How did she do it so fast?
"You're pretty good... I mean, good going, student Qin Wei."
The person standing opposite her in the darkness said.
She knew who it was from the voice alone.
Qin Wei gave a cold laugh. Then she took a tactical flashlight out of her pocket.
When she clicked the switch, the surroundings were instantly illuminated.
The terrain was relatively flat with knee-high overgrown weeds.
"My teammate Zhou Fang may have gotten lost. I came down to take a look."
As Qin Wei spoke, she started to walk away before noticing Song Huan still standing in place.
"What the heck are you holding?"
Song Huan asked her.
"A flashlight, duh."
Qin Wei shook it.
Although it was a stuffed strawberry bear, its eyes were LED lights. This was custom-made for her by Teacher Qiao. She could hug it when sleeping at night and it provided light when walking at night too.
Song Huan seemed to want to say something but stopped. She took out her own flashlight from her pocket and lit up their surroundings.
A tactical high-intensity flashlight, a hundred times brighter than her titanium alloy puppy eyes.
Qin Wei silently put the little bear back in her pocket.
...
"I was walking at the very back of the squad the whole time. I just met your teammates earlier and told them all to go back. If you're scared, you can go back too. It's not your duty to find people."
As Song Huan spoke, she looked back at Qin Wei.
"Does Instructor Song think I'll pass muster?"
With no cameras around, Qin Wei didn't hesitate to roll her eyes at her and retorted directly:
"She's my teammate who got lost. It's only right for me to look for her."
"You just don't dare to go back alone, right?"
Song Huan asked her, but she was never worried. After all, she had been secretly following them the whole time so nothing could happen.
Qin Wei laughed in anger:
"Funny. Why would I not dare? If anything, Instructor Song shouldn't assume everyone else is afraid just because she herself is."
Song Huan still wasn't annoyed. She just felt that Qin Wei was quite gutsy.
Extra points.
The two continued walking forward. The surroundings were deathly still. Whenever the scops owl or other birds cried out, Qin Wei would jump in fright.
But she was too proud to admit she was scared. She just used the excuse that the road was difficult to traverse.
"I rarely go online to check entertainment news. I'm a little curious, tell me about things in your circle, okay?"
When it was quiet at night, amidst the chirping insects if no one talked for a while, it would make people feel restless.
So while searching, Song Huan started making small talk.
"What else could be going on? It's the same as any other industry – clock in and out, work overtime. Nothing much to say."
Qin Wei wasn't very interested in this topic and casually brushed it off with a few sentences.
"My teammate said that you guys wear the most high-end clothes, go to the most luxurious consumer locations, eat the best cuisine, and chat about love with handsome men and beauties. How is that the same as other industries?"
Song Huan retorted.
Yes, she had imagined such things herself in the beginning too, but the reality?
Many things came to mind, but they turned into just a few words out of her mouth:
"It depends on the person."
She had expected Qin Wei to hurriedly deny this and then desperately try to prove how hard she worked and how difficult this industry was, passionately arguing in self-defense.
But she didn't. Song Huan was very surprised.
"It will be dawn soon."
Song Huan stopped and looked up at the sky. Without even needing to check her watch, just based on her own grasp of time, she knew it was already 7 AM.
"Let's head back."
Song Huan said to Qin Wei.
"But..."
"No buts."
Song Huan cut her off mid-sentence,
"Based on my judgment of time, Zhou Fang should have almost reached the military camp by now."
Qin Wei reacted for a bit:
"So you mean, you knew she wasn't here??"
"Yes."
Song Huan admitted it readily without a second thought.
"Holy sh*t!"
